My indonesian adventure …
In the summer I went in an adventure in Indonesia with AIESEC Global Citizen program, as a volunteer. I spent 7 weeks there in August and September and it was one of the best summers of my life. During the time spent there I met a lot of people, made a lot of friends, learned new things about the world and myself and open the road for my future.
I only knew a few things about Indonesia before going there, and most of them was the things that I read on the internet. After packing my things for the trip and armed with a good attitude, it took me 36 hours and 4 airplanes to get there, making stops in cities like Istanbul, Singapore and Jakarta. Once arrived there I was amazed that the airport was surrounded by jungle and there was some people waiting for me there, my hostfamily and the project manager for my internship.
My project was about discovering local culture and promote the local tourism, which was really pleasant to do. Every day I visited a new place, either a cultural place or an old temple and meet local people. We were 45 students from all over the world in this project, gather here from 23 countries. Along with the local communities of reptile, jazz, parkour or capoera we discovered a lot about indonesian culture and history. We learned how to dance on indonesian songs, play traditional music or how to plant rice in the fields.
Indonesia has a really beautiful nature and you will be amazed about the things that you will see. There are monkeys playing on the street and small reptile in almost every house, you can enjoy a trip on the back of a big elephant or see deadly snakes and 3 meters long reptile (the komodo dragons).
During my time spent there I climbed 3 volcanoes, the highest one was 3.700 meters, Rinjani mountain, from Lombok island. It was the hardest thing that I ever done (harder than any marathon that I ran) and it took me 3 days and 2 night to get on the top and get back, sleeping the 2 nights in a tent.
After the project was over, I set up a trip on a few beautiful islands including Komodo, Flores and Bali. I took a 4 days boat trip with a few friends from the project: one portuguese guy, one brazilian guy and german girl. We did snorkeling in one of the most beautiful coral reefs (the second largest after the one from Australia) swimming along colorful fish, turtles and mantas, visit wild jungles, chill under the waterfall and drinking fresh coconut on the beach.
The whole experience was a life changing adventure that set new paths for me and helped me to decide what to do with my future. It was a mix between discovering new things, making new friends and learn more about myself. Overall, an experience that makes me to look forward for another one in the future.
http://www.aiesecbucharest.ro/global-citizen/
Aurelian Grigore 